South African students in Birmingham celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- South African high school students culminated an eight-day learning experience in Alabama on Monday with a celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day in Kelly Ingram Park.

"Mandela, the powerful man, the hero, the role model, he should be celebrated," said 16-year-old South African student Abongire Kala.

The front of the main stage at Kelly Ingram became the forum for many of the students as they displayed their traditional South African dances in an impromptu performance.

"Let us dance the dance of South Africa," yelled a dancer from the Umdabu Dance Company of Birmingham.

And in South African custom, the students joined in song.

"This is our song," said Sibusiso Dube, 16-year-old student from South Africa.

The students had been here studying the civil rights movement in person, as they had studied for several months before arriving here last week as part of the International Legacy Youth Leadership Project. They took part in the Mandela Day Celebration organized by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in honor of the former South African president's 93rd birthday. The celebration included South African music, vendors, food and people dressed in African garb.

"In the civil rights movement, Americans had to put all they've got for their freedom," Dube said. "Like in South Africa, we had to sacrifice everything."

Similar to the Birmingham-area high school students who traveled to South Africa in June, also as part of the International Legacy Youth Leadership Project, the South African students found the movements to be alike.

"The youth wanted changes in their community," said 16-year-old South African Abongire Kala. "They were fighting for freedoms."

Racism and segregation were a part of both struggles, but during the South Africans' study of the movement here revealed that religious leaders were a huge part of the movement, unlike in South Africa, Kala said.

"There was a lot of church involvement (here)," she said.

Historical sites they'd read about became real as they visited Bethel Baptist Church and First Ebeneezer Baptist Church.

For many of the students the celebration of Mandela Day here in the U.S. is no surprise.

"Because the same way you celebrate here, we celebrate him the same way in South Africa," Dube said.

The South African students fly back home Wednesday. Their biggest lessons come not from the comparisons of the movements but from the interactions with their peers.

"Always be friendly to people even when you don't know them," Kala said.